Russell Street Bar-B-Que

Went to this place last weekend for the first time, had to wait almost an hour to get in, but so worth the wait. I ordered the rib sampler and needless to say it was beyond amazing. If your looking for hearty portions and beyond excellent food this is your place

We are so lucky to have such great bbq so close to the hood. This place is great!!! I highly recommend the brisket salad.

We really enjoyed the BBQ here — for dinner the meaty sampler was $ 21 and allowed us to pick a serving of ribs, beef brisket, and a sausage, plus two sides (we chose meaty beans and Mac n cheese). It was for us enough for two, and probably enough for most unless you have big appetites or are really hungry.
Overall all the dishes /​meats were very good and a nice assortment of BBQ sauces. Service was good as well.

We have eaten here numerous times over the last few years, and generally have had a good experience. However, we had dinner there last night and we were fairly disappointed. Portion size has decreased significantly, but price point is still fairly high. The meat was a bit overcooked and lacking in flavor. Service was excellent. This is a very family friendly and crowded establishment, and for those who don’t enjoy dining in the middle of screaming children, the atmosphere was less than pleasant. Cocktails are always good and creative. Gluten free options. Parking can be a challenge. With all of the rest of the BBQ choices in Portland, I’m not sure we’ll go back to Russell Street, sadly. They’ve just slipped a bit.

My favorite BBQ joint in town. It always has such a fun vibe because it’s usually busy and the servers are so fun. My kids always order the chicken tenders with creamy gravy dipping sauce. So yum!

Went to meet up with friends and we arrived early. Now you would think there is a bar so could sit have a few drinks before everyone arrived. NO! Now, you can pay for drink and sit by the front door. But if you sit at bar and only have a drink then you will get kicked out of your seat. Not impressed from the start. There is no southern hospitality or customer service.

I stopped in for lunch and had a great experience! Pepper was my server, and he was super friendly, warm & knew what I needed before I asked. My smoked chicken salad was delicious! I will come here for dinner next time :)

Meh is right. Passing through Portland for an evening and Russell St. popped up as a good place my low-​carb boyfriend and I could grab a bite. Unfortunately this is one of those times where Unilocal steered us wrong. This meal was definitely lacking in most every department. Our ribs were very tough, the sauces were overly sweet, brisket dry… I liked the ambiance of this place, but even the service was pretty inattentive (wound up going to the bar for new drinks since our server didn’t stop by for about 20 minutes).
Not sure if we came on a bad night, or if my southern upbringing has led to snooty standards for northwest barbecue, but with all the great food options in Portland, I wish we’d given this place a miss.

Non-​plussed.
I hate spending loads of cash on average food. I really was craving barbecue today and lots of places are closed, fair enough, its a holiday. I couldn’t remember if I’d been here or not, but this was an easy option, so we set out, hats on heads, braving the outrageous blustery weather.
I’ll add photos later.
I will say the service was pretty good and the woman serving us was patient and friendly. I’ll also add that my son loved his brisket sandwich, not so much the fries, but what the hell he was doing getting fries at a barbecue spot, I don’t know. My ribs were ok, the spicier sauce was good but it all got a bit cloying, after awhile. There are sauce choices on the table so you can adjust the taste but once you add, you cannot subtract, and I just think there’s too much sugar in them.
Barbecue is about as personal as it gets, and this place can’t possibly be the best in Portland, can it? My two sides, (CARB OVERLOAD) were beans (too soupy) and macaroni and cheese. The latter arrived room temperature and that was sad because the flavor is good, but cold food that is meant to be hot, is a big turn off for me (That’s a review for a different day) and I did get a replacement but it tasted like a completely different batch. Very odd. As if different people and recipes conspired to confuse my underdeveloped palate.
As previously noted, this meal was expensive, and I’m a skosh grumpy right now.
The actual half RACK (giggle snort) of baby back ribs were tender, not super smoky, and mostly ok. I finished them– no wait, three were stolen from me by house on fire metabolism boy, and those bones were naked when he was done with them.
All in all, I was disappointed.
Help me out people, I really need some good barbecue, I feel like I’m on a quest rivaling those of Middle Earth. (no I’m not reactionary nor OTT, why do you ask?)
I know one does not simply walk into Mordor, but I’d eat a barbecued Orc if the fires of Mount Doom could get the meat, sauce, and sides kicking ass all in one meal.
Apologies for the needless melodramatic nerd summation. I’m grieving over my mediocre barbecue, some nonsense was bound to ensue.
love,
Smeagol aka Gollum

This used to be a favorite restaurant (see previous reviews). Unfortunately things change, here they do often and usually not for the better.
The food has become inconsistent. Last visit I asked for the classic sauce it was so sweet the only tastes I got were sweet and smoke, later I realized they must have given me the kind sauce instead (they would[t have changed the sauce that much would they).? The visit before I ordered my brisket lean and it arrived with a thick layer of fat. The meat on the sandwich has been coming dry with some sauce just pored on top.
I am also not a fan of the new bun, I didn’t like the grainy texture and it had no taste.
The side salad has gotten much smaller and now is just a handful of what looks like bagged iceberg lettuce with corn chips on it with a side of dressing.
Other changes I am neutral on, New Art, Coke now comes from a bottle (no refills).
The meaty beans are still great though.
In all I don’t know if I will be back… the slide has been going for a while and I may just need to find a new spot for Bar-​B-​Que. Or maybe I Just need to find something new on the menu.

Delicious BBQ meal at the right price. The killer sauce is great. I highly recommend this place for BBQ lovers

This USED to be our favorite, go to BBQ spot in town for over 4 years. Then they did some weird menu changing. They put a disgusting secret sauce with red peppers on the bottom of the sandwiches, and while the BBQ turkey sandwich USED to be good, full of juicy turkey, today, I got a sandwich FULL of what I can only assume were the trimmings from some pre-​bought turkey block with the fake criss cross marks in it. My entire sandwich was full of ONLY this. Chewy, the fake prebought hash marked skin on, and it was practically inedible. It’s like asking for bread at a restaurant and getting ONLY crusts brought to your table.
My salad was wilted to boot.
I wish I could say this was just an off day, but the last three times I’ve been there, I get the weird secret sauce, and it seems like their affinity for the prebought turkey with the chewy skins is growing — each sandwich has grown in its sheer quantity of «deli turkey butts».
Crap. I need to find a new BBQ joint.

To me food taste better when you have the right mix of ingredients and people. The owners are great place to start when it comes to Russell Street BBQ! they are cool, kind and super supportive of small business in their community! Not to mention the cool chicks that work here, everyone’s welcome the location is large and clean great for big groups or just a good lunch by yourself with a nice book!
Yum yum yummy yum

Oh yeah!
This BBQ joint has the BEST mac n cheese, hands down. I have never been disappointed. I think the secret is a touch of blue, whatever it is, it works.
The brisket is inconsistent — I’ve had fantastic and I’ve had pretty dry. I do like that they let you choose lean or marbled. I am a fan of the Kind sauce — just the right kick for me, not much at all :)
I like the meaty beans and the corn bread is OK.
Service here has generally been darn good.

First of all I’m from Kansas City and my BBQ expectations are pretty high. We will return Russell Street BBQ in he future. Hubby and I chose to have BBQ for our anniversary. Our waitress Heidi was awesome!
We each ordered the Meatapalozza. I had the pulled pork, marbled brisket and [pork] spare ribs with the coleslaw, roasted corn on the cob and cornbread sides. My husband had the marbled brisket, sausage, beef ribs with mashed potatoes, meaty beans and Texas toast as his sides.
The pulled pork and spare ribs both had flavorful rubs. My husband likes a lot of sauce. I felt the brisket, while moist and tasty due to marbling, was lacking something and «had to have» sauce. My husband started his with sauce so he loved his. We would both have the brisket again, I would likely start with sauce on mine. Hubby also liked his beef ribs, but agreed that the spare ribs we quite tasty. We both will get spare ribs when we return. My husband enjoyed his sausage and would have it again.
Now for the sides, the coleslaw needs help. We’re both slaw fans. The slaw «sauce» has little flavor and bland. I added a bit of the «Carolina vinegar sauce», but still didn’t have the taste I was craving and Hubby didn’t like it. Next time no coleslaw. The meaty beans were tasty and Hubby would likely try something else, but would keep them in mind. I enjoyed my roasted corn on the cob, but didn’t care for the side of «garlic» butter, Hubby liked it when he tasted it. Hubby liked his mashed potatoes and would have them again. Hubby’s Texas toast was just that, «Texas toast». The cornbread was «meh». I’ve had better, but also had worse. I would likely have it again, but would want more butter.
All-​in-​all, we enjoyed our anniversary dinner and will return.

Everything was acceptable; I’ve had better, unfortunately. The barbecue was really tough… definitely in need of some slow roasting. The barbecue sauces were yummy. The cocktails were entirely too sweet and lacking in alcohol. The side dishes were a bit better. The yams were too sweet, the macaroni and cheese had a blue cheese taste to it (which, obviously depending on your preference, could be a good or bad thing), the fries were good and green bean casserole was also good.
There are a some vegetarian options (bbq tofu and plenty of sides).
The servers were very nice. The atmosphere is open and comfortable.
There is a small parking lot right next to the restaurant. Bike parking nearby too, I think.

Went here a couple of nights ago with the BF, and boy did we pig out! I love Podnah’s, and it’s closer to where we live, but we hadn’t been to Russell Street in a while, and wanted to go back here. So glad we did!
We went on a Friday night, so had to wait about 30 minutes, but they have a decent amount of seating so the wait wasn’t too bad. *Just don’t sit on the table in front of the bench, because it’s not stable. We saw a woman sit on one end, and it flipped over.
Anyway, after having time to look at the menu while we were sitting, we both knew what we wanted. I started off with the Piggy Punch (love the name), which is a delicious cocktail made from Marionberry Infused DL Vodka, Pineapple Juice and Bubbly served in a mason jar. I love anything sparkling, and this drink delivered. It was so good, I drank two!
I really LOVE pimento cheese dip, so we got that as an appetizer, and it was so delicious. We ate every bite, and I think the crackers that were served with the dip were also homemade. If you like pimento cheese, I would highly recommend it.
For dinner, I got the Smoked Sausage plate, which comes with two sides and either cornbread or Texas toast. I got the cornbread, which was SO GOOD — slightly sweet with a moist texture. I opted for the potato salad and BBQ beans, and both were exceptional.
And the sausage was some of the best I’ve ever had. They also have 5 sauces, so you can order your meat with or without sauce. I opted without, so I could add what I wanted from the sauces at our table. I tried two: the Classic and the Killer. Both were really good, it just depends on how much heat you want.
I also got desert, and opted for the Banana Pudding. I hadn’t eaten that in years, and it just sounded so good. It was as good as it looked! It was served in a small mason jar, and the size was perfect. I would get that again in a heartbeat.
Service was also great — very friendly waitress who came by on a regular basis to make sure we had what we needed.
Overall, a wonderful experience and we will definitely be back.

Love the short ribs and pulled pork here, saliva drip, drooling, drip drip
This is my go to place when I’m craving bbq. What more do I need to write?

I have not been here since they reopened after the fire years ago! We stopped in for a cocktail and to-​go order…
The place was consistently crowded but we got a spot in bar area and bartenders and servers were delightfully sweet and welcoming. Adorable actually.
Had a yummy pineapple margarita (yum!) and ordered enough food for 5 yet we are only two…
Beef ribs, half chicken, brisket, great assortment of sides and sauces. Corn bread is like my momma used to make :)
Worth every penny.

Im going to turn over a new collard green leaf and start looking at barbecue in Portland in that specific context only. Its smoked meat in Oregon. It is not and never will be Austin or Kansas City or Memphis barbecue, which are my prototypes.
This new attitude gave me an open mind and a more positive experience when I ate dinner here the other night. I had iced tea, smoked turkey with the mustard based sauce, potato salad, bbq beans, and a cornbread hockey puck with honey butter. I also had apple crisp with ruby jewel vanilla ice cream. Portions are not huge. I finished mine just fine. I liked the tender smoky turkey a lot. The potato salad was flavorful.
Service was pretty good. Water was refilled regularly.My.tea was too.
My dining companion had pulled pork, greens, mac and cheese, and cornbread. He took a little home so he could eat two fried chocolate pies.(by the way they packed his leftovers really nicely). I tasted those pies and they were not bad. Sinfully good actually.
People around us ate ribs, fried things, and brisket. They seemed happy.
Putting aside your barbecue wet dreams (Im looking at you, Salt Lick) is a good coping skill and made for a nice dinner.
Next time Im trying the portlandy pimento cheese. See. I can adapt.